title: Congenital constriction ring in children: sine plasty combined with removal of fibrous groove and fasciotomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the clinical and functional results of a technical procedure used in the surgical treatment of congenital constriction ring (CCR) in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective study undertaken to evaluate the results of surgical techniques performed from January 1995 to December 2005 on 95 patients with 134 congenital constriction bands. Due to the drop-out of nine patients during follow-up, data on 86 patients (121 congenital constriction rings; average age at surgery 1 year 2 months) were analyzed. The extent of the constrictions was classified by according to the Patterson criteria. All patients were treated by two-stage sine plasty combined with removal of the fibrous groove and fasciotomy, with one-half of the ring removed during the first stage and the other half removed 1 week later during the second state. The surgical outcomes were assess according to the Moses criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three types of CCR (Patterson criteria) were identified among the 86 patients (121 constriction rings): types I (5 patients, 4.1 %), II (107, 88.5 %), III (9, 7.4 %). Of the 121 constriction rings, good results were attained in 73.6 % and fair results in 26.4 %. Sensory deficits were seen in six patients immediately after the surgery but all six had improved to a normal condition at the final follow-up examination. There were no skin necrosis or wound healing problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combined sine plasty/removal of fibrous groove and fasciotomy method reported here is a simple and safe surgical technique for treating CCR in children.
authors.affiliation: Viet Nam National Hospital for Pediatrics, 18/879 La Thanh Road, Dong Da District, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Nguyen Ngoc
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Hung
keywords: Amniotic bands; Congenital constriction band syndrome; Dermofat flap; Direct closure; Z-plasty